Pierre Luc Doc

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Long 1Pier-Luc LongProfessor Jeanette NovakovichEnglish 213 / 2 Lec BB30 November

2010Animal Welfare Regulations in Zoos

Introduction

According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, a zoological garden (abbreviated to zoo) is aplace where wild animals are kept for exhibitions to the public, breeding, study, etc. (1813)

Zoos are popular amongst people of all ages but mainly with kids and families as they go there to

learn more about specific animals that they have never heard of or seen before. Many zoos notonly include the animal facilities, they also include many other areas like waterslides, roller

coasters, and many other activities. There are also many types of zoos, ranging from Safari parks

to aquariums and roadside zoos to animal theme parks. Zoos, through the centuries, have

provided ideal ways of examining animals and their behaviors. It is known that many outbreaksin animal health and even human health have been made through zoos and their conservation

practices. While zoos show many benefits, they also encompass many dark sides that are more or

less known by the general public. Animal welfare activists have been fighting zoos and their

ways of dealing with the animals for decades now and governments and people in charge tolower the rate of controversial activities in zoos have done very few things to improve the

captive lives of animals. Decades-old regulations rule the fate of

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captive animals throughout the whole world and when the regulations are fair and working, they

rarely are followed or inspected by authorities, which leads to the same life style in zoos. Thetreatment of captive animals is mediocre, their health is not dealt with, reproduction is almost

impossible, endangered species are still threatened, and re-introduction is impossible. All these

facts come to show that regulations are poor or non-existent. What if the animal welfare is sub-standard and threatening to the animals? It is obvious that strict regulations and practices have to

be enforced and followed in the zoos.

I Treatment of Zoo AnimalsThe treatment that animals receive in certain zoos is mediocre and is threatening to their lives,

even the lives of endangered species that should be protected by the government. It seems that

the main goal of many zoos is to make money and not to showcase their animals in healthy andproper ways. The Kiev Zoo, as I stated above, is one of many zoos that neglect animals either

through their installations, the way the staff treats the animal, or many other circumstances.

Some of the main neglects that lead to the health, mental or physical, of the animals are the

inadequate climate, habitat, and fauna. Although there is an effort made to have adequateinstallations for the animals, it is obvious that the habitats are not and that a zoo cage will never

provide the same benefits as their natural environment does. Many animals have been found to

behave in self-destructive ways because of their insufficient space or the fact that they are unable

to behave naturally in their enclosed room (not able to fly, swim, climb, run, hunt, etc.). Manyanimals have been found to

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behave in neurotic ways, up to the extreme of incessant pacing, swaying, head-bobbing, bar-

biting, and self-mutilation. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA))While one

would think that the natural behaviors change, through the generations, to be in accordance withtheir habitat, it is not the case. Newborns in the zoos still suffer from the restriction of their


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natural behavior; there is rarely any adjustment made to the cognitive behaviors of animals, wild

or not. Other psychological anomalies that have been noticed are heightened aggressivity and

fearful behaviors. It has also been noted that many animals have suffered physical changebecause of their adaptation-process (which is never completely over) to the sequestered life,

physical changes ranging from weight loss to distorted walks. (Anitel) The size of their habitat is

the main cause of these physical anomalies as they are not able to move and behave in theirnatural ways (flying, running, hopping, etc.).Another proof of bad treatment in zoos is the way

the management of zoos encourages the birth of animals, for the popularity of baby animals for

visitors and the financial benefits that they provide, but these new animals give zoos surplusesand, in many cases, the surplus animals are killed to make space for the new animals. The

selective slaughter of surplus animals is a problem in many zoos and many of them have

admitted to the culling of excess animals. There has even been recycling of surplus animals,

meaning that they were fed to other animals, apparently a very economical way to feed zooanimals, while other animals are used as scientific experiments to help in the discovery of

diseases, viruses and physical anomalies. While one would think that these procedures happen in

underfunded zoos, in third-world countries, it also happened in

Long 4zoos like the London Zoo and many other zoos in the UK. (The Captive AnimalsProtection

Society (CAPS))An exemplary zoo for the bad treatment of animals would be the Kiev Zoo, a

Ukrainian zoo. This controversial zoo has received bad ratings from animal welfare activists in

the past few years, with a death toll of 51 animals in 2008. The zoo has been criticized foroffering sub-standard facilities for their animals, hiring inappropriate employees that dont have

any training or experience in the field. With the death tolls arising, the administration of Kiev

Zoo blamed someone of poisoning the animals, it was stated that the zoo has some of the worstfacilities for animals in the world. Many other zoos have been noted of such faulty treatments.

(The worlds worst zoos: Some places you dont want to bring the kids)

II Health of Zoo AnimalsHealth in zoos is also badly dealt with in many zoos, mainly because of the inexperienced

employees and the funds required for the medicine or to have experts deal with the animals. As

stated above, many physical problems are related to the improper cages and caring. Many virusesare transmitted from animal to animal or from human to animal. Many animals are not

immunized to human infections, as they would never come in contact with humans in their wild

locations. There is also often an exchange of infections, bacteria and viruses between animals of

different regions and species. Different animals live with different bacteria but once it is shared,it can be deadly for the other animal and that often happens in the case of animals of the same

genus but different species. (Wickins-Drazilov 27-36)

Long 5The diseases that have been affecting most of the animals are bacterial or vector-

transmitted, which means that they are transmitted by insects. Those diseases are mainly broughtupon by factors like temperature, moisture and wind. Animals coming from different climates

will be exposed to diseases that their systems do not have the power to defeat and the diseases

can lead to health hazards and even death in extreme cases. The aspects that the geographical

locations of the wild animals bring are never well represented in foreign zoos. (Barbosa 131-135)Mental illnesses have been appearing in zoos where the facilities do not provide the


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necessities for the animals. Many animals have started behaving in self-threatening ways after

being enclosed in their small cages and not having enough space to do what they would do

naturally. Some of the main troubles that have been noticed are incessantpacing, swaying, head-bobbing, bar-biting, and self-mutilation. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

) Other animals have shown signs or stress and depression from either being in large groups, for

solitary animals, or in alone or in small groups for animals that live with these conditions. Thehuman interaction also is threatening to the animals mental health, as they are not used to

interact socially with humans. These illnesses seem minor but they can be dangerous for the

animals; if their mental health isat stake, it usually reverberates on other aspects (physical, social,etc.).While it is factual that zoo animals live a longer life, it doest mean that their sedentary zoo

life is better than their dangerous wild life. While the long life is a good thing, it doesnt mean

that it was ideal for the animal if they were missing necessary aspects of wild life like hunting,

running, and other natural activities that animals engage to in the wild. The opposite is alsoprobable because of all the added stress of captive life.

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For animals like elephants, captivity shortens their lives, according to studies. Aspects that

shorten the lives of zoo-born elephants are their inability to survive in conditions that are harsherthan zoos. When re-introduction to the wild is done, many animals die because of that inability.

(Lin)

Reproduction in Captivity

It is globally known that zoos strive on newborns to make money and attract more visitors but as

Dita Wickins-Drazilov states: It is generally thought that a zoo where animals successfully

breed is a good one, and that it is necessary to worry about the welfare of animals living in zooswith a low reproduction rate. But is high reproduction actually an indicator of good animal

welfare? Many successful zoo births are results of human intervention. In vitro fertilization,

assistance during birth, or taking over the care of young ones are common practices in zoos.Such artificial breeding can hardly be proof of animal welfare. (Wickins-Drazilov)When

the animals are captive, many things go against the natural reproduction that they would usually

engage into. Reproduction is systematic and planned; the animals have no choice in the partnerand are enclosed in facilities that will make the animal comfortable and ready for reproduction.

Ideal reproduction happens in conditions similar to the conditions of wild life for animals, may

that be the climate, the habitat, or the fauna. The fact that these environmental factors are not

provided leads to infant death or even to infertility in animals. And even when

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reproduction is possible, the surplus animals, as stated above, are culled and often murdered.

Endangered Animals in Zoos

While endangered animals might be provided with ways to avoid poaching and smuggling, zoosdo not always have the proper caring for them. Many of the reasons stated above deteriorate the

lifestyle of our endangered species, as seen in the Kiev Zoo, where many elephants and lions

died. The high demand in endangered species to attract visitors creates an extra stress for the

animals, which can lead to mental or physical anomalies in certain cases. The main con to nothaving endangered species in a zoo would be that their life conditions in the wild would be


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dangerous and could possibly bring the extinction of species but in this case better facilities have

to be considered to make sure that the few endangered animals left in the wild and in captivity

are ensured not to extinct. The bad treatment by zookeepers, the live feeding of animals byvisitors, and many other aspects bring forth the danger of captive life for endangered species.

Asia is known to have the biggest count of endangered species and for that reason their zoos also

host most of the local threatened animals but many of them are not treated fairly. With poor orno regulations, China lately has seen many tigers die because of the fact that they did not have

enough funding to feed the animals. The zoos were then accused of selling the body parts of the

dead animals in order to get money, even though selling specific animal parts is illegal in thecountry. (Global Animal)The captive breeding of endangered species is also a thorough process.

In many cases, when the population is too small, inbreeding happens and can lead to physical

and

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mental disorders in the animal. (Mace 167-174) Other problems that the captive breedingprograms bring are the loss of behavioral habits such as hunting or foraging when animals have

lived in their cage all their life long and have never experienced wild life. This causes a lack ofsurvival skills in animals when they are released in the wild. The captive breeding programssucceed at doing what they do, breeding, but that does not necessarily mean that the new animals

have better living conditions and it often means that other animals will be forgotten for the new

captive breeds to have space to live.

Re-introduction of Captive Animals

The re-introduction of animals in the wild is a trivial part of zoo life. It happens seldom and is

often managed by government wildlife agencies. Re-introduction can be dangerous for zooanimals as they are used to a sedentary life and many captive breeds and other non-captive

breeds are missing natural characteristics necessary in the wild such as the ability to hunt, to run,

to fly, etc. These abilities are all of the utmost importance for the animals survival. Other skillsthat animals are missing when re-introduced are the skills taught by the parents, like finding food

and avoiding predators, as newborns are often separated from the parents and sent to different

institutions or cages. Another downside to re-introduction is the fact that the animals being setback in the wild have a chance of bringing foreign viruses with them, which could kill large

amounts of other animals. In zoos, viruses are transmitted from animal to animal, but they have

zookeepers and veterinaries to ensure that their health is good but once set in the wild they lose

the safety net provided by the experts and are then left on their own to

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deal with the diseases they bring from the zoo or new diseases that they catch in their newlocations. Endangered species also suffer from the threat of being poached again tube sold by

poachers. (The Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS))

Regulation Acts

There are many regulation acts, throughout the whole world, for zoos and animal welfare. In the

USA, zoos are regulated through animal welfare legislations that take into account certain zoo

welfare details. In Canada, animal welfare in zoos is a voluntary choice made by provinces.There is no legislation providing security for the animals and no provision in the law that details

any zoological treatment of animals. The European Unions regulations are different from


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country to country, some very satisfying, others not. France has provisions for the care of animal,

the exchange, and the infrastructures but it is unclear if these laws are followed, as there is no

record about Frances zoo inspection system. Germany, Greece and Slovakia have no provisionsfor zoo animalwelfare in their laws. Belgium, Portugal, Spain and UK are the only countries

that have provisions for all aspects of zoo animals welfare. In Canada, it is the provinces

authorities choice to add decrees for the zoo welfare. While Canada has the CanadianAssociation of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA),this organization only rules the 25 leading

zoological parks and aquariums in Canada.(Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums

(CAZA)) and it is obvious that the country has far more than 25 zoos. Local Montreal zoos likethe Biodome de Montral, Parc Safari, and Granby Zoo are all under the legislation of CAZA.

Other Quebec areas are legislated by the Loi sur la conservation et la mise en valeur de la faune

which is a

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government law for the conservation of the fauna in general. Other provinces have different actslegislating them. What is important is that there is no regulation in many countries and the

countries that do have regulations often have poor laws that are barely observed. Strict

legislation should be implemented globally and strongly observed and monitored to ensure thatanimal welfare is good. Having strict regulations on the type of habitat that the animals should

have, the kind of caring they should receive and the staff that deals with the animals would be a

good first step towards better animal welfare in zoos. Right now, many countries provide what

they call good animal welfare when it is in fact minimal and dangerous to the lives of theanimals.

Solutions

Possible long-term solutions would include having a global organization that would manage

animal welfare in zoos and similar facilities. Right now there are many organizations fighting the

crimes that zoos commit but they are limited in their action sand, in the end, the animals end upsuffering. This organization could also have inspectors in different countries and have them

inspect zoos and make sure that everything is going according to their regulations. This solution

would also stipulate rules regarding the treatment in zoos (having adequate climate, habitat andfauna) and would ensure that culling is not practiced. Real experts would regulate the health in

zoos and not just any employee, ensuring healthy lifestyles and decreasing the amount of viruses

being spread and dealt with (which would also have a repercussion on the health of reintroduced

captive animals). Reproduction

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would occur in more natural habitats, helping the animals reproduce in good physical and mentalstate. Reproduction would be taken more seriously also, reducing the number of culling

happening in zoos. Endangered species would be shown special attention, maybe even havespecific rules for them to ensure high quality service by employees. Captive breeding, a process

already ongoing, would be regulated so that inbreeding does not happen, causing anomalies in

generations to come. Finally, the reintroduction of animals would follow specific steps ranging

from teaching the animals how to survive in the wild to giving them a more active lifestyle.Basically, all that is needed to ensure animal welfare in zoos is people that have the animals in


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mind and not the profits coming from the zoos. With many activists already fighting for animal

welfare, the perfect solution is not too far away.

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